a. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to devices for mechanically separating hay bales. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices intended to flake rather than shred hay bales.
b. Description of the Prior Art
Crop materials such as hay, silage, stubble, and the like are commonly stock piled in bales taking various forms such as square or round. These bales are typically held together by twine or wire.
There are a wide variety of machines which create the bales themselves. There are also a wide variety of machines intended to process baled crop materials.
In some cases, it may be desirable to shred the baled crop material. For example, where the hay is to be used as bedding for animals, shredding may be desirable. Also, where the baled material is to be worked into the soil, it may be desirable to shred it. U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,128 to Ostrowski. Ostrowski discloses a device intended to be mounted on the front end loader linkage of a tractor. The frame carries a horizontal conveyor construction which has an inclined ramp at a forward end so that the ramp can be inserted underneath the bale to slide the ramp and conveyor under the bale and lift the bale onto the conveyor system. The conveyor moves the bale toward one side of the device at which a shredder roller is provided with a suitable duct housing to direct material out one side of the implement. A deflector can be used to direct the shredded material in to feed bunks or the like. A device intended to perform a similar purpose is disclosed by Niebur in U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,992. Niebur""s apparatus differs from that of Ostrowski, however, because Ostrowski uses a rotating shaft with fingers thereon to shred the bale. Niebur uses a plurality of side-by-side elongated walker members. The elongated walker members move away from the bale in an upward stroke and then engage the bale in a downward stroke pulling off bits of hay. Niebur""s method purports to avoid problems with clogging which are inherent to the rotational shredding of a hay bale.
However, in many applications it is not desirable to shred the bale. Rather, for use in feeding livestock, it is desirable to have larger chunks of hay pulled off of the bale in a relatively gentle manner. Thus, fewer small pieces of hay, which tend to get ground into the soil or fall out of the bottom of a feeding apparatus, rather than being consumed by an animal, are avoided. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,287 to Vanderberg, a separator is disclosed which acts substantially without chopping the bale materials as is desirable for use in feeding hay to livestock. Vanderberg discloses his device as being mounted on a trailer for towing. However, despite the fact that he purports to disclose a device that does not shred the bale, Vanderberg""s device separates the bale with a rotational shaft having fingers mounted thereon. The fingers are disclosed as being rotatably connected to the shaft. Thus, the shaft must be rotated at a relatively high rate of speed so that centrifugal force forces the fingers to extend in an outward direction from the shaft. If the shaft is rotated at a slower speed, the fingers remain close to the shaft and will no perform their function in separating the bale. Another downfall of the Vanderberg device is the fact that the fingers engage the bale in a downward direction. This tends to force the separated hay material against a support surface on the device. Thus, there is a shearing effect, which causes the separated material to become broken into smaller portions. While Vanderberg recognized the importance of avoiding chopping the hay, his device is not entirely successful in accomplishing the objective. Further, even to the extent that the Vanderberg device does not chop the hay, it does separate it into very small portions.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a hay separation device which flakes the hay into large chunks rather than chopping or otherwise finely separating it.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of devices for mechanically separating hay bales, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus which overcomes the various disadvantages of the prior art. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved bale separator. More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus which flakes a hay bale rather than shredding or chopping it.
The present hay flaking apparatus is suitable for bales susceptible to flaking. In its preferred embodiment, the hay flaking apparatus is more efficient in separating large square bales. The separator acts to xe2x80x9cflakexe2x80x9d the bale into large chunks rather than chopping or grinding the hay material. The present invention allows a single operator to easily flake and distribute the hay in a single operation.
The present invention is an improved hay bale separating apparatus of the type having a horizontal main frame defining a substantially flat support surface with a front edge, a rear edge, and a first and second side; a biasing means for moving a hay bale placed on the support surface toward the first side; a separation means on the first side for separating the hay bale into smaller portions; and a transportation means for moving the apparatus and bale thereon to place where the bale is to be separated and disbursed. The improvement of the present invention comprises a shaft on substantially the same plane as the support surface with at least one flaking sprocket mounted thereon, the sprocket bearing at least one tooth with a concave leading edge and a convex trailing edge meeting at a tip, the shaft driven to rotate so that the concave leading edge engages the bale on the up stroke thereby gently separating the bale into flaked portions and discharging the flaked portions up and away from the separating means so that the flaked portions remain relatively large and unbroken. In a preferred embodiment, there are two flaking sprockets on the flaking shaft, each sprocket having three teeth thereon.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a biasing means for moving the hay bale towards the flaking mechanism. In a preferred embodiment the biasing means comprises a push bar which engages the side of the bale forcing toward the flaking mechanism. Alternatively, the biasing means may be a conveyor belt or any other suitable mechanism. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a plurality of transportation means for the present invention. In one embodiment, the hay flaking apparatus is mounted on the front end loader of a tractor. This allows the hay flaker to be raised, lowered, an tilted as needed. Further, there is an easy loading mechanism, which is less problematic than that disclosed by Ostrowski in U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,128, using the present invention. Ostrowski discloses a ramp on the front of his bale shredding and dispensing device. He describes placing the device flat on the ground, then sliding it forward forcing the bale up the ramp and onto the device. There are multiple problems with this loading method, including, but not limited to, the fact that if the device is not placed perfectly flat on the ground, it is likely that the ramp may engage the soil forcing it up onto the platform of the apparatus. The soil can then get into the mechanism causing wear and tear. In addition, the soil can be cast out with the hay. With the present invention, the hay flaking apparatus is disposed over the bale at an angle. A guide rail engages the bale so that when the platform is tilted from an angle to horizontal, the bale tilts under the force of the guide rail and is loaded onto the platform. This prevents the problem noted above with Ostrowski where soil get onto the apparatus. Alternatively, the present invention can be hauled on a trailer, similar to the configuration disclosed by Vanderberg in U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,287.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hay flaking apparatus which requires less horsepower than prior art devices. Previously, hay separating devices typically required the rotation of a shaft at a relatively high rate of speed. In addition to rotating the shaft at a relatively high rate of speed, a substantial amount of torque was required to shred the hay material. The present invention rotates a shaft at a very low speed. In addition, since the object is not to shred the hay, but rather simply to flake it, there is very little speed and relatively little torque required.
The heart of the present invention however is the flaking sprocket. The flaking sprocket has at least one tooth with a concave leading edge and a convex trailing edge meeting at a tip. The shaft drives the flaking sprocket at a slow rate of speed so that it engages the bale on the up stroke. The bale is thereby gently separated into flaked portions and discharged up and away from the apparatus so that the flaked portions remain relatively large and unbroken.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in this application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in those skilled in the art to which the present invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.